The World Trade Organisation (WTO) expected is to find against the European Union (EU) in an important dispute over geographical indications, American newspapers are reporting.
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The US and Australia have been arguing that tough EU geographical indication laws are unlawful under world intellectual property rules, because they do not give the same protection to high quality products identified with regions outside the EU.
Instead the EU operates a geographical indications register insisting that EU-associated products such as parmesan cheese or Champagne be made traditionally in their home European regions. A defeat for Brussels would not lead to the dismantling of these controls, rather their extension to imported goods, however.
